The Snow- A Pirate's Best Friend

[William the Drake]

This is a simple love letter, from a pirate, to the snow, as it is the perfect pirate vessel.

 

 

 

Of the smaller vessels (i.e. pre-frigate/pre-Cerberus vessels), vessels that pirates historically favored to deep-draught and slower vessels, the Snow stands out as one best suited for a "Pirate's life" in-game. She is unique in almost all fashions when compared to her other small vessel sisters, and that is her best quality. But what specifically makes her the best (small) option for a Pirate?

 

To start, she is rather small for her class, regarding to both length and width. Her predecessor, the brig, and her successor, the Mercury, are both much larger in these measurements. This gives the snow a slight (or sometimes not-so-slight) advantage in maneuverability. Even up against ships like the cutter or Privateer can she hold her own with relative ease. Her only drawback in this area is her height, which, unlike the other small vessels who are low to the water line, she presents a rather tall and easy to hit target in this respect. NOTE: The Devs have confirmed that because of her design, inspired by the HMS Ontario, the Snow's magazine is located unusually high in the hull. This makes the Snow a bit more prone to exploding via direct hits to the magazine or due to fires.

 

Next we have her armament, her broadsides alone holds 11 cannons each (8 on the gundeck, 3 on the upper-deck), which is one more cannon per broadside than the Mercury (although poundage has been sacrificed in this regard). The snow packs a powerful punch for her size, and gets the job done with little fuss.

But it's not her broadsides that makes her the best Pirate ship. No, instead, it is her chasers. More importantly, it's her bow chasers.

The Brig is the first ship with any type of chasers, and it only has stern chasers. Like it's predecessor, the Snow's stern chasers can be well utilized when attempting to escape more powerful Navy vessels, allowing for a clean getaway. However it is her bow chasers that really make the difference; the bow chasers allow you to hound and harass those cowardly unarmed traders without having to turn for broadsides, thus never losing distance with your prey. No other ship in the pre-frigate class has bow-chasers, the Mercury doesn't have any chasers at all!
 

The Snow fits the pirate bill perfectly; small, nimble, packs a punch, and can give a good chase, as well as lead one. She should be on every pirate's wishlist. And she's a bonny looking ship to boot.

Check out my other short ship synopses:

• Lynx/Privateer - The Pirate's Little Helper
• Brig/Navy Brig - The Good Teacher

Cheers,

Edited May 16, 2016 by William the Drake

[Brigand]

Nice little review. It would be nice if we had such nice and compact reviews for all of the ships.

 

~Brigand

[Jon Allen]

Very good read. I echo Brigand's sentiment that I'd love to see more ship reviews.

 

When I got into 6th rates I wanted to pick up a Snow but couldn't find one. I intend to pick up a Snow on my next life (after the wipe).

Edited January 12, 2016 by Jon Allen

[Prater]

Even up against ships like the cutter or Privateer can she hold her own with relative ease.

Those were someone's famous last words to me

Never underestimate any ship, it will usually get you killed. Underestimating different ships has killed me plenty of times recently. I've also soloed snow players in privateers and I've killed snows in a two man Lynx team before.

One advantage the snow has is its length like you mention, but while it is higher than other small ships it is shorter in length, which can also make it harder to hit.

[Justme]

Been debating on what the best pirate hunting ship would be, seems like what's good for the goose is good for the gander.

[Scorpio Shirica]

I'd be curious to hear what William thinks about the Pickle. It was my favorite small ship for quite awhile. 

[jodgi]

I'd be curious to hear what William thinks about the Pickle. It was my favorite small ship for quite awhile.

And old write-up.

 

Here are the gun choices and port stats for the Snow:

Snow speeds:

Versus it's arch enemy:

[Lancezh]

Well done summary!